Nosgoth
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Nosgoth is a fictional realm that serves as the setting of the Legacy of Kain series. Nosgoth is a vast realm with a diverse landscape, including mountains, forests, plains and swamps. The land appears to have a temperate climate, similar to that of northern central Europe. This is corroborated by the fact that the places and people of Nosgoth have Germanic names, and are almost entirely Caucasian. It is unclear whether Nosgoth is the name of the entire world, or a continent.
[edit] Inhabitants
Nosgoth is inhabited primarily by humans, but other sentient species have existed as well. Before recorded history, Nosgoth was home to the Ancients (now simply referred to as Vampires) and the Hylden. The Hylden eventually cursed the Ancients with bloodlust and immortality, thus creating the Vampire race that exist in the modern era. Nosgoth is also the home of the enigmatic Elder God.
[edit] In the Games
In Blood Omen, Nosgoth seems to be in a social era half way between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a common setting for gothic fantasy stories. The world is in relatively good health, although has become sickly as of late, due to the corruption of the Pillars of Nosgoth. Fifty years prior, during the reign of the young King William The Just in his vast mountain kingdom to the north of central Nosgoth, the Pillars are in good health and the world seems to be lush and vibrant, and even before that, it is seen that during the time of the original Sarafan priesthood, the world is just as healthy. Several historical periods are shown after the collapse of the Pillars in Blood Omen, and the decay of the world is evident in all of these. For example, in one, we see that much of the world has become wild and overgrown with rampant new mutant species of plants and animals, monster plagues cover the land and death is everywhere; the world looks as though weeping in a constant deluge of mythic proportions. In Blood Omen II, 400 years later, the land seems to be in the middle of an Industrial Revolution, brought on by the technology of the Hylden. However, this revolution is halted by the destruction of the new Sarafan order and the banishment of the Hylden to another dimension (sometimes referred to as the 'Demon dimension' in-game). Ecologically, the world is quite frail. From what can be seen of the outside, the more visceral portion of the world's death has passed, and has now given way to an arid and barren desert-like environment, with only minor, diseased shrubs remaining of the plant life, and nearly no animal life remaining at all. About a thousand years later, in the time of Soul Reaver, the death of the world seems complete and discernible history has ended. Humanity is nearly extinct, existing only in minor, primitive bands. The last large-scale settlement is hidden deep within the mountains, under the earth where heat is retained in the lower levels of the crust. The world is barren, dry and devoid of life, with a rocky landscape and frigid climate. Vampires have scoured the world clean of nearly all living things and completely choked the air with the black smoke and soot from their massive death-furnaces, blocking out the sun and sky permanently, poisoning the waters and causing massive acid rains. It is not known what future, if any, is possible in Nosgoth.
See: Darkness, a poem by Lord Byron about a similar end to the world.
[edit] Locations
- The Spectral Underworld was one of several places where the Elder God dwelled. Feral, scavenging inhabitants of the Spectral Plane called Sluagh roamed here, consuming lost souls.
- The Pillars of Nosgoth lay in the southwestern region of Nosgoth, and were tied with the health of the land itself.
- Avernus was a large city surrounding a massive cathedral. The cathedral served as the center of the prevalent religion in Nosgoth, which strongly resembled Christianity. Kain made reference to Heaven and Hell while trapped there by Mortanius. In Blood Omen, Avernus Cathedral was presided over by Azimuth the Planer. As revealed in Defiance, it was also home to Turel, summoned there by Azimuth from the far future.
- Coorhagen was a wealthy town and the birthplace of the Scion of Balance, Kain. Some time either directly before or between Kain's departure as a human and later his rebirth as a Vampire, the population of Coorhagen was wiped out by the plague.
- Dark Eden was a twisted, monstrous region in the northern reaches of Nosgoth. It was a barren, volcanic land protected by a magical forcefield, and was fashioned in a bid to corrupt and taint all of Nosgoth by three members of the Circle of Nine. In its center stood a magnificent tower inhabited by Dejoule, Bane and Anacrothe.
- Freeport was a coastal city south of the Pillars, apparently conquered by Kain during his march on Meridian after the fall of the Pillars.
- Meridian was arguably the largest city in Nosgoth. It was called the 'capital' thereof, but only following Blood Omen's events, after the Sarafan Order took over. It was a port town on the southernmost point of the continent. It was unlikely as large before the new Sarafan Order, with either King Ottmar's Willendorf or the abandoned capital city of the Land of the Nemesis probably being the largest at the time. By the time of the Sarafan, however, Meridian had become a massive industrial centre, similar to Victorian London. The city and its surrounding lands served as the setting for Blood Omen 2.
- Nachtholm was a poor town with a surprisingly large number of taverns and pubs, visible in Blood Omen.
- Provance was a village found south of the Pillars which was seemingly conquered by Kain during his march on Meridian.
- Valeholm was a town in an undisclosed region of Nosgoth. It was to feature in Blood Omen 2, but never made the final cut. Little is known of it.
- Stahlberg was a village on the edge of the Land of the Nemesis. Conquered in the unaltered timeline by the Legions of the Nemesis, it was beforehand home to the most prominent libraries and universities in Nosgoth.
- Steinchencröe was a lower-class city due north of Ziegsturhl. Kain traveled through the town as a human and professed his distaste upon doing so, exclaiming that the townsfolk carried a displeasing aroma. It existed during and before Blood Omen, and possibly Blood Omen 2.
- The Termogent Forest is a large black forest containing a vast swamp. At the heart of the forest lies Vorador's mansion. The forest was said to be haunted by faeries and the spirits of the dead, which may or may not be true, but the danger attributed to these spirits is actually the fault of Vorador, the ancient vampire dwelling within the swamps. The forest was also home to a small regiment of Sarafan troops during several of Soul Reaver 2's timeframes.
- Uschtenheim is one of the oldest villages in Nosgoth, a snowy hamlet occupied by the Sarafan. It lay near Janos Audron's Retreat.
- Vasserbünde was a small town found below Nupraptor's Retreat, a skull-like mountainous keep. It existed during and before Blood Omen, but had been destroyed before the time of Soul Reaver.
- Willendorf was the wealthiest city in Nosgoth, prominent during and before Blood Omen. It appears that Kain once served as a guard or soldier at Willendorf while still human. It was ruled by King Ottmar and his ancestors, and was at war with the Land of the Nemesis.
- The Land of the Nemesis was a snowy kingdom in northeastern Nosgoth which existed during and after the unaltered timeline of Blood Omen, ruled by the tyrant King William the Just who was also known as the Nemesis (while the Nemesis himself existed, before he was expelled from the timestream upon his younger incarnation's assassination at the hands of the time-traveling Kain). In the original timeline, the Nemesis ended up conquering all of Nosgoth.
- Ziegsturhl was a small hamlet, famously near the largest cemetery in Nosgoth. The human Kain was killed in Ziegsturhl by Mortanius's hired assassins before becoming a vampire. It existed well after Blood Omen, and was possibly destroyed by one of the Vampire lieutenants.
- The Eternal Prison was a massive floating chain of structures of unknown origin, south of Meridian in the midst of the Great Southern Sea. Constructed of black obsidian, its confines lay in a dark parallel existence between the Material and Spectral Realms where many natural laws such as time do not exist. It was said to be a phantom city, sometimes there, but usually not. Inside, immortal beings (possibly connected with Moebius) conduct a great experiment, attempting to purify the souls of those who have "become separated from their perfect inner nature". In his visit there during Blood Omen 2, Kain mentioned that those who violate the laws of nature too strongly are "expelled" from existence, and it is possible this is where they go, as the Eternal Prison technically does not exist, and is not part of the world proper.
- The Sarafan Stronghold was the home and base of operations of the Angels of Light, more commonly known as the Sarafan Priesthood (not to be confused with the Sarafan Order who took their name and were based in Meridian during Blood Omen 2), an army of fanatical warrior-monks who studied martial arts and weapons handling. They used their skills to wipe out undead, and especially vampires, whom they believed to be demons in human form. It was most prominent before the rise of Kain's original vampire army, at which point it was invaded and destroyed by monsters from the Demon Realm summoned by the Hylden Lord. Moebius' mercenary army took it as their bastion when they set out to complete the Priesthood's work.
- The Lake of the Dead (also called the Abyss) is a huge lake lying near the Pillars of Nosgoth. After the fall of the Pillars, it began rupturing in accordance with the health of the land to the point at which it became a constantly raging whirlpool of ethereal water. It is this Lake where weaklings and traitors met death in Kain's empire. When Raziel grew bat-like wings, Kain ordered Turel and Dumah to cast him into it while the other lieutenants watched on.
- The Razielim Fortress was the territory of the Razielim vampires before Soul Reaver, lying west of the Lake of the Dead. This city was once occupied by the Razielim, but when Raziel betrayed Kain by surpassing him in terms of vampiric evolution, the apparent extermination of the Razielim followed his damnation. After the extinction of the Razielim, this fortress became inhabited by invasive Dumahim vampires.
- The Sanctuary of the Clans was built over the Pillars of Nosgoth following their collapse, and the Pillar of Balance lay above Kain's throne. It was there that the six lieutenants and Kain congregated every few centuries to report progress in their conquest of Nosgoth, and was where Raziel revealed his evolutionary wings to Kain (who subsequently tore them off, to the immense surprise of the other five lieutenants).
- The Skinners' Necropolis was Melchiah's territory during and before Soul Reaver. It is north of Raziel's keep and has a cemetery from which the Melchiahim steal corpses to cover their rotten flesh.
- The Silenced Cathedral was the lair of the Zephonim clan during and before Soul Reaver. It stood east of the Gates of the Underworld. In the past, Zephon and his spawn invaded the cathedral to disable a weapon designed to weave a hymn of holy music capable of destroying every vampire on the face of Nosgoth. It then became their territory.
- The Tomb of the Sarafan was constructed long before Blood Omen. Located near the Sanctuary of the Clans, it was the place where as well as Raziel, Turel, Dumah, Rahab, Zephon and Melchiah lay as corpses for hundreds of years following their deaths. These Sarafan were defiled by Kain and became his six lieutenants. Another edifice to the last Sarafan Inquisitor, Malek, also lay here, but his corpse had already been destroyed in Blood Omen. The tomb was later defended by Morlock, a revived Turelim vampire.
- The Drowned Abbey was Rahab's territory before and during Soul Reaver. Following his rebirth, Rahab (and his vampire clan) overcame their vulnerability to the acidic touch of water and came to dwell within the depths of this half-drowned abbey. The abbey also housed a passage to the ancient Fire Reaver Forge.
- The Human Citadel is the last enclave of mankind after Kain's campaigns and rise to power. It is southwest of the Ruined City and housed the Water Glyph Shrine. It was also home to a secret order of vampire worshippers led by the Priestess.
- The Lighthouse lay beyond the Silenced Cathedral in the Soul Reaver era and was the resting place of the Sunlight Glyph. It was guarded fervently by Turelim vampires.
- The Ruined City was a mountain city in the north, constructed near the remains of Malek's Bastion a few centuries before Soul Reaver by the Dumahim. Centuries after Raziel's execution, Dumah was slain by vampire hunters and left to rot on his throne within the city.
- The Oracle's Cave was the lair of Moebius the Time Streamer and the place of his first encounter with Kain during Blood Omen. The caves lay near the Ruined City during Soul Reaver. Deep within lay the Chronoplast, a chamber capable of sending beings back through time.
Furthermore, somewhere to the distant south, in the Southern Sea, there exists a small island chain on which apparently live several tribes of extremely primitive (cave-dwelling) humans. They were used as slave labor when the Hylden returned to build their base of operations there.
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